The 21-year-old managed to stagger to his home in Marsh Hill home where he was discovered on the doorstep by his horrified mum.

Later that month, more than 70 elderly residents on the Ash Grove Road Scheme sheltered housing estate in Great Barr were threatened with ASBOs and eviction by a council official over late-night parties and noise from a shared common room.

City council housing officials went on to issue an apology for its “over-zealous” letter

In August, Birmingham chorister Mary Bale made headlines across the world after she was captured on CCTV dumping a cat in a wheelie bin.

Footage of the 45-year-old bank worker throwing four-year-old tabby Lola into a bin had some animal lovers calling for her death on social networking site Facebook.

Ms Bale was spared jail by a district judge and fined £250 in October.

All eyes were on the Second City in September for the historic visit of Pope Benedict XVI.

Around 60,000 people flocked to Cofton Park in Rednal for the special Mass to beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman on the last day of the Pontiff’s four-day visit to Britain.

Following the Mass, thousands lined Hagley Road to catch a glimpse of the Popemobile en route to Birmingham Oratory before it left for Oscott College and then Birmingham International Airport.

The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police apologised over the introduction of a controversial ring of spy cameras installed in two largely Muslim neighbourhoods in Birmingham.

Speaking after a damning report criticised the way the force implemented Project Champion, Mr Sims revealed all covert cameras in Alum Rock and Sparkhill had been removed.

Birmingham city centre was brought to a standstill in October after a stand-off between police and a man threatening to commit suicide lasted for almost 30 hours.

Roads were sealed off after the man climbed onto railings on a bridge above Paradise Circus, near Birmingham Central Library, and specialist crisis negotiators worked through the night to talk the man down safety.

Later that month, parts of the city centre were closed off, but for a very different reason as 15,000 runners took to the streets for the Birmingham Half Marathon.

Disaster was narrowly averted in November when a plane carrying a transplant organ crash-landed on the tarmac in foggy conditions at Birmingham Airport.

An air ambulance pilot bravely entered the burning Cessna to cut off the fuel supply and allow medical staff to reach the trapped pilot following the crash.

The organ was retrieved from the wreckage and successfully used in a transplant operation at the city’s Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital.

Student activism also dominated the headlines, ahead of a crucial Commons vote on whether to treble university tuition fees to up to £9,000-a-year.

In Birmingham, some 50 students took their protest to the heart of local government by occupying Birmingham City Council’s historic chamber for five hours.

In December, violence erupted at Blues and Aston Villa clash, which saw hundreds of Birmingham City fans invade the pitch at the final whistle after watching their team dump Villa out of the Carling Cup.

2010 ended as it had began, with arctic conditions sparking travel chaos for commuters and holidaymakers hoping to get away in time for the Christmas break.